5 Months, 17 Days

My teeth have been holding up quite well, albeit not making much visible or tangible progress that I can really get excited about or that I can really make a case for. The orthodontist implied that my progress is going well, and said that I'd be out of them quite soon. Fair enough not saying exactly when.

The photo below shows how my clear modules or ligatures held up just before I went into the orthodontist and got them changed. The clear ones, I've found, do discolour and yellow more than the pearl coloured modules. In addition to that, the yellowing of the modules makes your teeth look more yellow by contrast.

In today's visit I got a new "finishing wire" on my upper arch and the first four front teeth got a clear power chain elastic. The rest of my teeth on the upper arch got clear pearl modules. Before applying the arch wire, the orthodontist filed away slightly at between each of the front three gaps to help the alignment gel and come together as desired.

The orthodontist only changed the first four modules of my bottom arch. I found that odd, for a few reasons. It doesn't take much effort to change them, and I am paying quite a bit for this treatment so it's unreasonable to not have all my modules changed. They are also quite discoloured as you can see in the photos, and one of the last modules on my left bottom arch is only hanging on half of the bracket.

He did mention that the back teeth of my bottom arch aren't a priority, or that important, and said not to worry too much when I lost a module a few months back, so maybe that's why he didn't bother with changing them. I really would have liked them changed, though. I didn't even realise he wasn't changing them until I walked out of there and was on the train home and had a good look.

I also asked him about the centreline of my teeth, and he said there's not too much more room to move with that, because they're pretty centred as it is. He also said that manipulation depends on different tooth widths. I don't think it will be moving much more, but we'll see. There's still an indefinite time to go, and I have been developing small gaps between my front upper teeth.

The orthodontist also said that there would be a few more months of wire wear, then something about putting another wire in with some kinks and bends in it to make tweaks and fine tuned adjustments, followed by making my retainer impressions done. He reiterated that he wants to get rid of me as soon as possible, with a laugh.

I am still to wear my 'E' and 'D' elastics on alternating days, for half the day, and I do so after dinner until I wake up. I have been wearing them everyday, but I've probably been a little naughty and have doubled up on them a few times. I'm not sure if it's quite alright to be doing this, but I thought it wouldn't hurt.

Other than that, not much of an update this time, but I am delighted with my overall progress, and can't wait until they come off. The orthodontist said before Christmas—and then laughed and said, "But, I didn't say which Christmas!"